A very interesting civics lesson took place last Thursday at the California Supreme Court Building in San Francisco. The Commission on Judicial Appointments (made up of Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron George, Attorney General Jerry Brown and 5th District Court of Appeals Presiding Justice James Ardiaz) held a hearing on Gov. Schwarzenegger’s appointment of Senator Chuck Poochigian to the 5th District Court of Appeals.

Poochigian asked Anthony Capozzi, a Fresno lawyer and former president of the State Bar, former state assembly member Kerry Mazzoni and three appellate judges (Justices Vance Raye, Brad Hill and Stephen Kane) to speak on his behalf. Only one group spoke against his nomination, an activist group that criticized his voting records on LGBT issues but admitted to AG Brown that they had absolutely no evidence of any bias towards that population by Sen. Poochigian.As Justice Hill told the panel:

“As you have seen from the letters of support submitted for Senator Poochigian, he is a man whose hallmark is having an open mind and listening to all sides before making a reasoned and thoughtful decision.… Read More

This was the famous reminder posted in all of then Governor Bill Clinton’s campaign offices as he ran for President against then incumbent George H.W. Bush. It was there to keep the campaign from being distracted by other issues and to focus on the fact that the economy was bad and people were hurting. It worked.

But the economy is much worse now. And as President Obama fiddles away in the White House with a government take-over of health care, the economy is far from being out of the woods.

Yes, the economy will almost certainly be declared to be technically out of recession in this quarter. Things have stopped getting worse. Monthly job losses have declined. But we should not be sanguine. There are 4 major risks on the horizon which could lead us into a "double dip" or "W-shaped" recession next year. Many economists, including some of President Obama’s advisors, have told me they think that the risk of slipping back into recession next year is at least 50%.

What would cause that to happen? See the following:

1.) First of all, this "recovery" is weak and jobless. There… Read More

I have spent the last several years trying to make a living, to become a profit center for the state of California, instead of a cost of doing business. I have learned that once you no longer have a vote in the Legislature, people forget your name, and your opinions count for little. I voice those opinions, nevertheless, from time to time, in the hopes that someone might listen to them.

So, I want to voice my opinion on Governor. Now that the convention is over, and everyone has heard the candidates. The newspapers have analyzed the speeches, and the blogs have clashed their cymbals. I come to this point with the knowledge that I have not always been right about my choices. Bill Simon had to defeat Richard Riordan for the primary nomination, to avoid a complete meltdown of the Republican Party in 2002, but he was a terrible candidate for Governor. Afraid to take a position, constantly alienating people at all turns because of his weakness, and severe personal issues that arose just before the election doomed his chances. I endorsed Simon despite these weaknesses, and we lost that Governor’s race to the incompetent Gray Davis.

I endorsed… Read More

There will be more to come about the California Republican Party convention in coming days — as longtime FR readers know, as a blogger who is also an elected officer of the party, it is difficult for me to devote a lot of time the weekend of the convention to writing about it in real time.

That said, while this convention has been a lot of fun, I have to say as a politico that so far the best "entertainment value" of the weekend was enjoyed by the small group of people who occupied the press conference room yesterday afternoon to hear the media availabilities of Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman — both of which were quite stimulating.

Poizner opened his availability with some thoughts on his policy agenda — he was not scheduled to speak until the dinner last night and so he hit some details for the reporters presents. A portion of Poizner’s plan to revitalize California’s economy is a 10% reduction in tax rates to stimulate economic growth. Poizner’s assertion that lowering the rates would actually increase state tax revenues was met with a number of questions from reporters about this assertion — wanting more… Read More

Yesterday morning my commentary highlighted the back-and-forth between Team Whitman and Team Poizner sparked by the Sacramento Bee’s story on Meg Whitman not voting in elections. As with any back-and-forth, you have to stop at some point and write about it. Shortly after I penned that piece, the Whitman campaign had this comment on Poizner spokesman Jarrod Agen’s last volley (read it here)…

“Our campaign’s release was not only justified, it was an understated response to a wild-eyed, hysterical statement released by a Poizner staffer asking Meg to drop out of the race. Steve Poizner did in fact create a group that financed liberal Democratic campaigns, like Gray Davis 2002 gubernatorial campaign against Bill Simon, and Poizner has also failed to vote in various elections.”

—Tucker Bounds… Read More

Today I announced my lawsuit against Attorney General Jerry Brown for abusing the power and authority of the AG’s office when Brown wrote an overtly biased “title and summary” for a state ballot initiative that I submitted earlier this year.

The attorney general is required by law to meet a higher standard of fairness and impartiality when he drafts petitions, as well as ballot title and summaries. But instead, Brown cast his duties aside and played into the politics of ACORN and other Left Wing groups who oppose any type of voter reform. In the process, Californians were robbed of any degree of impartiality by Jerry Brown.

Earlier this year, I submitted Vote SAFE, a ballot measure that would improve California’s voting process by requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls; allow county Registrar of Voters additional time to count military votes that are mailed in from outside the U.S.; and protect the identity of absentee voters by concealing the voter’s signature on the envelope.

The Vote SAFE measure takes pains to make sure everyone has an opportunity to vote by allowing voters who don’t possess ID to vote provisionally,… Read More

Assemblyman Dan Logue just introduced his colleague, State Senator Sam Aanestad, to the CCA meeting. Aanestad is speaking right now, and making the case for why Republicans should choose him as our nominee for Lt. Governor.

FR reported earlier in the week that Aanestad had announced his candidacy. Aanestad touted the endorsement of Congressman Tom McClintock — and that of former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson.

Aanestad's late entry into this primary gives him a challenge shared by Carly Fiorina that I mentioned in the post below — his opponent, Senator Jeff Denham, has been endorsed by virtually the entire GOP universe of elected officials in California, such as they are.… Read More

I am on the road to Indian Wells where I will convene with fellow Republicans at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort. It’s a stunning location offering many amenities. But members of the California Republican Party have little time to play and instead must stay focused on outlining the party’s strategy and goals if we are to make inroads in 2010. California is in crisis. That’s not news to anyone. The GOP must move forward with plans to shift our great state’s economy from gasping on life support to one that is healthy, robust and thriving once again. Our goal is to make sure California voters put more Republican leaders in Constitutional offices and Legislative seats. The laws coming out of Sacramento simply don’t reflect the values that most Californians hold, and the GOP is in the position to bring positive change to the Golden State. To successfully achieve our goal, we must stay focused on important issues, such as creating jobs and strengthening the economy, as well as holding the line on taxation, addressing our water needs , and providing safe neighborhoods for our families. We must work as a unified team, not subsidiaries… Read More